Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy movie loosely based on the 1990 fairytale picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson in their directorial debuts, it stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow as the voices of the lead characters. In the story, an ogre called Shrek (Myers) finds his swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures who have been banished by the corrupt Lord Farquaad (Lithgow) aspiring to be king. Shrek makes a deal with Farquaad to regain control of his swamp in return for rescuing Princess Fiona (Diaz), whom Farquaad intends to marry. With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek embarks on his quest but soon falls in love with the princess, who is hiding a secret that will change his life forever. The rights to Steig's book were purchased by Steven Spielberg in 1991. He originally planned to produce a traditionally-animated film based on the book, but John H. Williams convinced him to bring the film to the newly-founded DreamWorks in 1994. Jeffrey Katzenberg began active development of the film in 1995 immediately following the studio's purchase of the rights from Spielberg. Chris Farley was originally cast as the voice for the title character, recording nearly all of the required dialogue. After Farley died in 1997 before the work was finished, Mike Myers stepped in to voice the character, which was changed to a Scottish accent in the process. The film was intended to be motion-captured, but after poor results, the studio decided to hire Pacific Data Images to complete the final computer animation. Shrek premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, making it the first animated film since Disney's Peter Pan (1953) to receive that honor. It was widely praised as an animated film that featured adult-oriented humor and themes, while catering to children at the same time. The film was theatrically released in the United States on May 18, 2001, and grossed $484.4 million worldwide against production budget of $60 million. Shrek won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. It also earned six award nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), ultimately winning Best Adapted Screenplay. The film's success helped establish DreamWorks Animation as a prime competitor to Pixar in feature film computer animation, and three sequels were released—''Shrek 2'' (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010)—along with two holiday specials, a spin-off film, and a stage musical that kickstarted the Shrek franchise. Although plans for a fifth film were canceled prior to the fourth film's release, the project was revived in 2016 and has since stalled, with production and a potential release date getting pushed back. Profile *'Title:' Shrek *'Directed by:' Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson *'Produced by:' Jeffrey Katzenberg, Aron Warner, John H. Williams *'Release date(s):' May 18, 2001 *'Running time:' 90 minutes *'Language:' English *'Budget:' $60 million *'Total Worldwide Box Office Gross:' $484,409,218 *'Following by:' Chicken Run (2000) *'Followed by:' Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) Plot Shrek, a mean-spirited and highly territorial green ogre who loves the solitude of his swamp, finds his life interrupted when he is befriended by a talkative Donkey, one of countless fairytale creatures exiled to Shrek's swamp by the fairytale-hating and vertically-challenged Lord Farquaad of Duloc. Angered by the intrusion, he decides to ask Farquaad to exile them elsewhere, bringing Donkey along as he is the only one willing to guide him to Duloc. Meanwhile, Farquaad's torture of the Gingy for the location of the remaining fairytale creatures is interrupted when his guards present him with a Magic Mirror. He asks the Mirror if his kingdom is the fairest of them all but is told that he is not even a king, and that he must marry a princess. Farquaad resolves to marry Princess Fiona, who is locked in a castle tower guarded by a dragon. Unwilling to perform the task himself, he organizes a tournament wherein the winner gets the "privilege" of rescuing Fiona for him. Shrek and Donkey arrive during the tournament, and ignorantly defeat Farquaad's knights. Farquaad proclaims them the champions, and compels them under threat of death to rescue Fiona, promising to move the fairytale creatures from Shrek's swamp if he succeeds. Shrek and Donkey travel to the castle to find Fiona. They are attacked by a Dragon, who corners Donkey. In desperation, he sweet-talks the beast, learning that it is female. Dragon falls in love with Donkey and carries him to her chambers. Meanwhile, Shrek finds Fiona, who is appalled at his lack of romanticism and surprised he had not slain Dragon. They leave after rescuing Donkey, and Fiona is thrilled to be rescued but is quickly disappointed when Shrek reveals he is an ogre. Despite her demands that Farquaad come get her in person, Shrek forcibly carries her as he ventures back to Duloc with Donkey. At night, Shrek explains to Donkey his frustration at how society judges him for how he looks; Fiona overhears this, and decides to be kind to Shrek. The three encounter Robin Hood on their way back, where it is revealed that Fiona is an expert martial artist. Shrek and Fiona find they have much in common and begin to fall in love. Characters Main characters Shrek Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers, Michael Gough as his official voice in the video games) is the lead character in of all of the films. He prides himself on being a big, green, terrifying ogre and is ill-tempered and rude. He begins the series as an unsociable hermit until he meets his soon-to-be best friend, Donkey. In a deal with Lord Farquaad, he and Donkey embark on a quest to save Princess Fiona from the castle in which she was confined. Despite their differences, Shrek and Fiona fall in love, marry at the end of the first film, and have three ogre babies in the third film. Chris Farley was originally set to play Shrek, but he died before he could complete his voice work (he finished 80-90% of the film or according to his brother Tom, 95%). In Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, a woman mistakes The Missing Link as Shrek. Donkey Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy, Mark Moseley as his official voice in the video games, and Dean Edwards in Scared Shrekless) is a talking donkey. He is cheerful, talkative, optimistic, irritating, hypochondriac and half worried, but kind-hearted and brave when need be. He escaped being sold by his owner, an old woman, and eventually met and allied with Shrek. He is Shrek's best friend, but it always bothers or irritates the ogre. He has also become the frequent companion of the honorable mercenary Puss In Boots, although the two always fight or disagree from one another. Donkey loves to sing and hum, as seen in all the franchise films. He is also the Dragon's husband and father of the Dronkeys, whose passion for sweets inspired the name of each one of them. Princess Fiona Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz, singing voice provided by Sally Dworsky in the first film, Renee Sands on all other occasions, and Holly Fields in the video games) is the princess of Far Far Away, the daughter of late King Harold and Queen Lillian, cousin of King Arthur Pendragon, and Shrek's wife from the end of the first film on. She begins the series as a beautiful princess who transforms into an ogress every night when the sun sets. At the end of the first film, the transforming spell is broken and she permanently takes the form of an ogress when she realizes that Shrek is her true love. Puss In Boots Puss In Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas in the English, Spanish, and Italian versions of the films, Eric Bauza in The Adventures of Puss In Boots, vocal sounds and purrs were provided by Frank Welker, and André Sogliuzzo in the video games and commercials) is Shrek's best friend along with Donkey. Loosely based on the fairy tale character Puss In Boots as well as being a kind of parody of Zorro, he is a smooth-talking cat with a Spanish accent, usually wearing a cavalier's hat, a belt with a sword, a small black cape, and small Corinthian leather boots. Puss first appears in Shrek 2, much like Dragon in the first film. He often overpowers his enemies by distracting them with his "cute kitten" looks. He also exhibits common cat behavior such as coughing up hairballs and chasing lights, usually resulting in his defeat or capture. For obvious reasons, he does not appear in the first film or 4D ride, though he does make a non-speaking cameo in the musical. The character was also featured in the 2011 film Puss In Boots as the lead character. Puss In Boots stars in the Netflix series The Adventures of Puss in Boots, where he protects the hidden city of San Lorenzo. Voices *Mike Myers as Shrek/Blind Mice *Eddie Murphy as Donkey *Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona *John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad *Vincent Cassel as Monsieur Hood *Peter Dennis as Ogre Hunter 1 *Clive Pearse as Ogre Hunter 2 *Jim Cummings as Captain of the Guards *Bobby Block as Baby Bear *Chris Miller as Geppetto/Magic Mirror *Cody Cameron as Pinocchio/Three Pigs *Kathleen Freeman as Old Woman *Michael Galasso as Peter Pan *Christopher Knights as Blind Mice/Thelonious *Simon J. Smith as Blind Mice *Conrad Vernon as Gingy *Jacquie Barnbrook as Wrestling Fan *Guillaume Aretos as Merry Man 1 *John Bisom as Merry Man 2 *Matthew Gonder as Merry Man 3 *Calvin Remsberg as Merry Man 4 *Jean-Paul Vignon as Merry Man 5 *Val Bettin as Bishop *Andrew Adamson as Duloc Mascot *Jack Angel as Guards *Rodger Bumpass as Guards *Patty Cornell as Clockwork Chorus *Charles Dennis as Villager *Susan Fitzer as Clockwork Chorus *Elisa Gabrielli as additional voices *Jeremy Harrington as Screaming Villager *Gary A. Hecker as Dragon Vocals *Richard Steven Horvitz as additional voices *Phillip Ingram as additional voices *Aron Warner as Big Bad Wolf *Frank Welker as Dragon/Animals' Vocal Effects Production Development At the time DreamWorks was founded, producer John H. Williams got hold of the book from his children and when he brought it to DreamWorks, it caught Jeffrey Katzenberg's attention and the studio decided to make it into a film. Recounting the inspiration of making the film, Williams said: }} Casting Animation Shrek was originally set up to be a live-action/CG animation hybrid with background plate miniature sets and the main characters composited into the scene as motion-captured computer graphics, using an ExpertVision Hires Falcon 10 camera system to capture and apply realistic human movement to the characters. A sizable crew was hired to run a test, and after a year and a half of R & D, the test was finally screened in May 1997. The results were not satisfactory, with Katzenberg stating "It looked terrible, it didn't work, it wasn't funny, and we didn't like it." The studio then turned to its production partners at Pacific Data Images (PDI), who began production with the studio in 1998 and helped Shrek get to its final, computer-animated look. At this time, Antz was still in production at the studio and effects supervisor Ken Bielenberg was asked by Aron Warner "to start development for Shrek". Similar to previous PDI films, PDI used its own proprietary software (like its own Fluid Animation System) for its animated movies. For some elements, however, it also took advantage of some of the powerhouse animation software in the market. This is particularly true with Maya, which PDI used for most of its dynamic cloth animation and for the hair of Fiona and Farquaad. "We did a lot of work on character and set-up, and then kept changing the set up while we were doing the animation," Hui noted. "In Antz, we had a facial system that gave us all the facial muscles under the skin. In Shrek, we applied that to whole body. So, if you pay attention to Shrek when he talks, you see that when he opens his jaw, he forms a double chin, because we have the fat and the muscles underneath. That kind of detail took us a long time to get right." One of the most difficult parts of creating the film was making Donkey's fur flow smoothly so that it didn't look like that of a Chia Pet. This fell into the hands of the surfacing animators who used flow controls within a complex shader to provide the fur with many attributes (ability to change directions, lie flat, swirl, etc.). It was then the job of the visual effects group, led by Ken Bielenberg, to make the fur react to environment conditions. Once the technology was mastered, it was able to be applied to many aspects of the Shrek movie including grass, moss, beards, eyebrows, and even threads on Shrek's tunic. Making human hair realistic was different from Donkey's fur, requiring a separate rendering system and a lot of attention from the lighting and visual effects teams. Shrek has 31 sequences, with 1,288 shots in every sequence total. Aron Warner said that the creators "envisioned a magical environment that you could immerse yourself into". Shrek includes 36 separate in-film locations to make the world of the film, which DreamWorks claimed was more than any previous computer-animated feature before. In-film locations were finalized and as demonstrated by past DreamWorks animated movies, color and mood was of the utmost importance. Music Shrek is the third DreamWorks animated film (and the only film in the Shrek series) to have Harry Gregson-Williams team up with John Powell to compose the score following Antz (1998) and Chicken Run (2000). John Powell was left out to compose scores for later Shrek films with Williams due to a conflict. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios by Nick Wollage and Slamm Andrews, with the latter mixing it at Media Ventures and Patricia Sullivan-Fourstar handling mastering. Culutral References In many places the film references classic movies, predominantly those by Disney. When Tinker Bell falls on Donkey and he says "I can fly" and people around including the Three Little Pigs say "He can fly, he can fly"; this is a reference to Disney's Peter Pan. This scene is also a reference to the Disney film Dumbo, where Donkey says, while flying, "You might have seen a house fly, maybe even a super fly, but I bet you ain't never seen a Donkey fly" The scene where Fiona is singing to the blue bird is a reference to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The transformation scene at the end of the film references Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Release Marketing Home Media The film was released by DreamWorks Home Entertainment on VHS and DVD on November 2, 2001. Both releases included Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party, a 3-minute musical short film, that takes up right after Shrek ending, with film's characters performing a medley of modern pop songs. DVD Release Sequels *''Shrek'' (May 18, 2001) *''Shrek 2'' (May 19, 2004) *''Shrek the Third'' (May 18, 2007) *''Shrek Forever After'' (May 21, 2010) Trivia *Robin Williams was originally going to have a role in the film, but dropped out when he found out that one of the producers, Jeffrey Katzenburg, was producing the film, he dropped out. The reason why is because Williams recently worked with Katzenburg on Aladdin and had disputes with each other. References External Links *IMDb Profile *Shrek: The Official Site Category:Movies Category:2001 Category:Animated Movies Category:DreamWorks Category:CGI Movies Category:DreamWorks Movies Category:2000s Category:Parodies Category:Films scored by Harry-Gregson Williams Category:Steven Spielberg Category:Shrek Movies Category:Disney Parodies